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The late-Friday trade of centre fielder Vernon Wells to the Angels, pending an Anaheim physical, may end up being the best trade in sophomore GM Alex Anthopoulos’s short history.

Whatever amount the team may have to pay as Wells’ compensation will be worth it.

Without the financially advantageous Angels deal — including catcher Mike Napoli, who is arbitration-eligible, and outfielder Juan Rivera, who will earn north of $5 million — there was no way that the Jays’ ex-centre fielder and their current, far more valuable, right fielder, Jose Bautista could have co-existed in ’11 and beyond.

The fact of the matter is, the duo of Wells and Bautista, if they had remained together, would have eaten up $37.5 million — about 40 per cent of the team’s payroll.

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Tough love.

The decision to dump Wells points towards a long-term deal for Bautista, now that Wells’ Delgado-like albatross of a deal is gone from the scene.

Wells is set to earn $86 million over the next four seasons.

For the Jays, it looks as though Rajai Davis and Corey Patterson will platoon in centre, with Bautista moving to right field and the Jays in sudden need of a third baseman.

While Wells is surely a wonderful human being — running a charitable foundation in Texas, and helping to build homes for needy families — he’s not exactly what the Jays need in terms of clubhouse presence.

His sincere style doesn’t fit with the team that the Jays want to be over the short term.

As the club looks to move forward, they couldn’t afford a supposed on-field leader who has issues with his own performance.

Wells wanted to be the Jays’ leader after Carlos Delgado departed the scene. But his ability to do so was hampered by the seven-year, $126 million contract that he signed back in 2006.

Now he finds himself in a subordinate role behind a real leader in Anaheim, Torii Hunter. Chances are, he will succeed.

With this move, Wells’ erstwhile outfield neighbour, Bautista, is all of a sudden the undisputed face of the franchise.

But the question remains: Why would the Jays trade Wells for a defensively-challenged catcher like Napoli when they already have the same guy in J.P. Arencibia? Where does a veteran, offensive-oriented catcher like Napoli fit into the Jays’ plans?

The just-acquired catcher would seem to bring the same attributes to the table as the Jays’ own minor-league stud, J.P. Arencibia.

Will J.P. once again be left spinning his wheels?

The answer lies, simply, in simply getting rid of the entire Wells contract.

“The biggest component, I think it goes without saying, was the financial implications,” Anthopoulos said on a conference call on Friday evening.

“Beyond 2011, the financial flexibility it gives our organization in 2012 and beyond with where we’re going and as we build this organization made a lot of sense for us.

“At the same time we think Mike Napoli and Juan Rivera are very good players.”

The Jays will be spending about $11 million on Napoli and Rivera, and saving $23 million on Wells.

Anthopoulos suggested on the conference call that salaries were being paid by the new teams.

This seems to imply that the Jays are on the fast track to a multi-year deal with Jose Bautista, with the implication being that Bautista is moving back to right field.

So where does seemingly anointed catcher J.P. Arencibia stand, with a trade that brings another more experienced catcher with the same skills onto the scene?

Arencibia seems to be back into the same sketchy scenario as he was before.

He has an experienced backup catcher in Jose Molina, and he must try to beat out a more experienced guy in Napoli who, because of his contract, is going to be on the roster.

But Jays fans should not be as worried about Arencibia’s situation as they are excited about the fact that Anthopoulos got rid of a silly, locked-in deal granted to Wells by the previous regime.

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